December 21, 2010
He’s not the first yacht crew member to fall for The Yachts of Seabourn e-mail scam, but Wayne Arnold wants to be the last.
Seabourn is a real company with real yachts and real jobs. And it does hire crew, just not by e-mail. From his home in Nova Scotia, Canada, Arnold explained that he thought the chef position he was offered by e-mail sounded too good to be true, but the company corresponded with official-looking documents and e-mails.
“The captain wrote me a letter, I filled out a detailed questionnaire,” Arnold said. “They sent lists of my duties and lists of the benefits.”
So he sent the scammers $700 for what they described as travel document processing. They explained that they had been taken advantage of by crew traveling to the job and not working, so they require applicants to pay up front to ensure they will take the job. In addition, he sent them a copy of the data page in his new passport.
“They used my identity to claim the money,” he said.
Eventually, Arnold took the issue to the British Embassy in Canada.
“They said this looks authentic and they sent it to London,” he said. “London sent it back three hours later saying it was not.”
The Triton has published several reports about this and similar scams and communicated with the Yachts of Seabourn. Officials with the authentic company said they are aware of the scam and have posted information on their Web site to clarify that someone is falsely using versions of their name.
“I can confirm that any and all job offers that your readers receive from different captains are part of a scam that has been going around for the past month,” said recruitment specialist of fleet personnel Gabor Varga at The Yachts of Seabourn. “Our captains do not have the authority to make any decisions, recruitment-wise, and we do not offer employment without a face-to-face meet with all of our candidates.”
Arnold is new to yachting, but with four summer seasons under his belt.
“I still want to get back on a boat,” he said. But, “it feels like they sliced me open and left me there. It feels like a gutting.”
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This scam is still alive
The Triton has heard that yacht crew are continuing to respond to classified job postings for Seabourn. It is recommended that crew thoroughly research before sending money or personal data to any classified ad.
Seabourn Yachts scam
My daughter has also received a job offer from these scammers..offering her $12,000+ per month as a deckhand! There were red flags all over the information the "captain" sent her (which, thank God, she forwarded to me & my husband). The signature on the offer letter did not even match the name listed right below it, the questions asked in the questionaire had nothing to do with her experience or skills, and when we googled the so-called captain's name, we couldn't find him ANYwhere. And of course, he needed her "immediately". My daughter is in Thailand & was seriously considering to fly to the UK for this job! I don't think she has sent them any money. It sickens me to think that there are people who spend their life taking advantage of others.
Seabourn Yachts
I also fell into their scam, but when they offered me a job as a "bartender" for about $3000 a month I became suspicious (my resume is clearly indicative of consistant work as a Chef!) Especially when you wonder why they couldn't hire someone in Great Britan for half that amount, and then why would Great Britan allow me to work there in that capacity when there must be 1,000's of unemployed bartenders there! I contacted the real Seabourn gave them the info I had,then followed through with them to get more information (other web pages, email address etc) They really have devised a complex system of payment deliveries for visa documents etc. I gave them fake information, they told me my visa had cleared I just had to pay my half of the fee $300. I reported it directly to the authorities in the UK.To Yahoo, and Gmail. I really hope these people get caught, I feel like it is up to all of us to report to the fullest these scam operations. Who knows who or how many desperate, anxious for work, people that they may have hurt, both financially, and of course the final disappointments that follow emotionally. Seabourn informed me to remind you all that they would ALWAYS conduct a personal interview before ever offering any type of employment!
Private Chef Mark Luc Anderson
VHospitality Monaco
Seabourn Yachts
My god, man! Sorry to be unsympathetic, but everybody gets this stuff. You don't need to be new to yachting, just new to the modern world to be fooled by this.
Seabourn Yachts
I too have been offered Jobs with Seabourn Yachts, when they where offering $7500 per month on the second e-mail with only looking at my resume, and asking my Mother's full name as part of the information they needed I had to say I smelt a rat, sorry to see others have been drawn in to there web....
Seabourn Yachts
I too received one of their emails offering me a captain position on a yacht that would require an unlimited ticket. That I do not have. I did call Seabourn and forwarded all of the emails I had received. Seabourn is aware of the scam but have been trying to catch these guys for a while. When you get a job offer from someone from gmail rather than the companies domain name, be aware that this is a scam. Especially when there is no phone number for contact. Another red flag.
Captain Laura Tritch